CLEVELAND โ Tuesday is officially Valentine's Day.
And while love is in the air for some, others are still looking to find their perfect match.
Authorities say the crooks are working overtime and cashing in on the dating market.
That means an increase in romance scams happening here in Ohio and across the United States.
Scams, in which thieves pretend to have a romantic interest in their prey in order to swindle them out of money, are becoming more elaborate across all age groups, and that's partly due to social media, dating and dating apps. games.
Experts say to trust your gut and check out all the dating profiles.
If the person seems too good to be true, they probably aren't.
Before you swipe right on a dating app or search for your perfect match online, experts want you to be on your toes this Valentine's Day season.
Teams of cybercriminals, who often work together abroad, seek to cash in on your kindness.
"Unfortunately, when you're looking for love, there are a lot of people looking to target you," said Sue McConnell, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Greater Cleveland.
Romance scams have taken hold and hit an all-time high due to the pandemic with so many people spending time online.
The FBI reports that at least 24,000 people fell victim in 2021 and lost at least $1 billion to scams.
McConnell says that cybercriminals are moving away from wire transfers and gift cards. Now they want cryptocurrencies because they are not regulated by the government, there are no guarantees, and they cannot be traced.
"I mean, the money is gone. I don't think people realize that, you know, you put your money in a bank and that has FDIC protection. But you put your money in cryptocurrency, you don't have the same kind of protection," McConnell said.
McConnell says that if you're on dating apps, be on the lookout for "love bombers," those who profess instant love and gratification toward you in a short amount of time. They then often claim that they need money for a medical emergency or sudden accident.
Additionally, many victims reported that they thought they found love with a service member. The service member will usually claim to be too busy to talk on the phone because he is abroad and then frequently ask for gifts or cryptocurrency over time.
When in doubt, McConnell says to check the person's profile photo.
"If you're looking at a photo of someone, you can right-click on the photo and search for it on Google Images."
Romance scams have become such a problem recently that Match Group, which is the parent company of Tinder, Match, Hinge and Plenty of Fish, has warned users.
Now they added face recognition options for selfies and video chat to investigate your potential match.
Meanwhile, McConnell says he always Googles the person's name and even does a Facebook search.
In many of these cases, it is the same profile that works with several victims at the same time.
"See if it comes up online with warnings from other people about this person, that they are in fact running a romance scam," McConnell said.
In many cases, these cases go unreported due to embarrassment.
Authorities say reporting them is vital.
You can submit reports to the BBB Scam Tracker here: Find and report a scam | Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) EITHER Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Homepage.
The strength of the numbers and reporting will curb scams in the long run.
